Friday, September 22, 2023

changes and what the rain brought




The days have been getting shorter since the Solstice but it was so incremental that it was barely noticeable. Getting dark by 9:00 instead of 9:30 seemed to take forever and then a couple of weeks ago I was closing up the garage door and was shocked to see it was full dark at 8:30. Whoa! When did that happen! The arc of the sun has shifted giving us that golden light in the early evenings and while it's still hot during the day, there's a subtle difference in the air, mornings are cooler.




I put the hummingbird feeders out a couple of days ago. They aren't being mobbed but there are two that spend more time chasing each other off than feeding.

A few days after the rain last week, rain lilies started popping up. My small yellow ones have really multiplied and put on a gorgeous display.

Then the small white ones started popping up in places I didn't even know they were, just a few here and there though over at the shop yard they're popping up all over.

The large white rain lilies that a friend gave me sent up a couple but so far not the ones I dug up on the side of the road.

And this morning I saw a pink one in the front flower bed.



I'm getting sort of anxious to do stuff outside but it's still just too hot and 5 days out of seven in the evenings I'm either at yoga class or cooking dinner so that leaves mornings and what I get done depends on how early or late I get up. Also, my mind is drifting over to the shop more and more these days to get it cleaned up and reorganized and actually do some work. I've been doing some little nit picking here at the house, sorting through two boxes that have been hanging around since the flood, stuff that I obviously haven't wanted or needed and I'm tired of shifting them around. And I emptied the last container of dead headed zinnias, pulling the seeds out and bagging them up for next spring, finally put the sewing machine away from when we were working on Jade's quilt. I was going to sort through those boxes some more today but we watched the two latest episodes of Only Murders In The Building and then discovered there were two more episodes of Reservation Dogs in season 3 when we thought we had seen them all and that was a nice surprise, so we watched episode 9 and 10, the very last, will be released next week.


And then we got an unexpected unpredicted rain shower this afternoon that gave us ¼” so maybe the long dry spell is over.


22 comments:

  1. Those little lilies are pretty and precious.

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    1. the yellow ones are just spectacular this time around. that spot started out with just a small pots worth.

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  2. I love those lilies. Our occasional hummingbird left weeks ago, sigh.

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    1. my neighbor at the other end of the street has 5 feeders out and they are hogging all the hummingbirds. we were sitting on their porch yesterday evening watching the dozens swoop and chase each other. my two feeders have attracted two or three.

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  3. Glad to hear that cooler weather is heading your way. You will welcome it with open arms.

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    1. I wouldn't call it cooler weather exactly, just not as horribly hot. still in the 90s.

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  4. I saw a hummingbird a few days ago, just flitting about.
    It is truly cool here this morning. Unbelievable.

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    1. we had one or two mornings in the high 60s and it felt so good but now back in the 70s in the mornings.

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  5. I love seeing the flowers blooming there. I've never heard of rain lilies before. I'm glad that the weather is starting to cool down. What a relief that is. Ah... autumn.

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    1. no rain lilies there? they like at least a half day of sun and only bloom after a rain after a dry spell.

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  6. Those rain lilies are beautiful! It's got to be a relief to feel the season changing. What's in those boxes that you haven't missed it all this time?!

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    1. let's see...leftover glass stuff from when I was making the garden totems, a halloween witch made from a gourd, some cast metal pieces that were part of a windchime kind of thing, some small ceramic faces from another long ago art project, a turtle shell, a small ceramic bowl, the broken tea cup bird feeder, stuff like that in one box; framed and loose photos and bubble wrap, tissue paper, foam pieces, and air filled plastic bags for packing in the other.

      it's a glimmer of a season change but not really a change until we are done with temps in the 90s.

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  7. We didn't get a lick of that rain. I was so hoping too. Anywho, we had 14, on last count, hummingbirds a week ago and now nothing. I put out the last of the sugar water for them just in case. Still nothing. They have gone to the south I guess. At least it's starting to cool off. The temps are barely breaking 95 now. Which is a wonderful relief.

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    1. that little shower surprised me and it rained pretty hard for a little while. still, only ¼" and we need so much more. my guess is your hummers are all hanging out at my neighbor's house. they have dozens.

      how sad is it that we think low 90s is 'cooling off'.

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  8. Love the lilies! I was just thinking that every few days I really need to just pick a box & go through it. We still have boxes from our move almost 7 years ago. I think I'm afraid I'll decide we really need the stuff & then I won't have anywhere to put it.

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    1. best to just put them in the trash without even opening them. otherwise you'll be like me, agonizing over shit I haven't even cared about for years.

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  9. The lilies are just lovely. Hopefully it will cool off soon and you can go outside.

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    1. another high 90s day today. tomorrow supposed to start dropping to mid to low 90s and in about 10 days maybe a high in the 80s. if only!

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  10. We have had a dry week and yesterday afternoon, around 3 I turned the water on the spinkler by the she shed. I remembred it at 1 this am and got up and went out to turn it off. I have not ventured uphill yet to see the results! Could be good, could be flooded.

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    1. oh, I've done that more times than I like to admit. I try to remember to always set a timer on my phone.

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  11. Keep an eye on those hummingbird feeders. I was over at the Brazoria refuge yesterday and saw more hummingbirds than I've ever seen. There were dozens of them. I made myself sit down and be patient, and I managed a few photos that are acceptable enough to post, although the guy next to me with what seemed to be a six-foot-long lens probably did better -- LOL! They were fun to watch. They seem a little early, but maybe they know something we don't. If we get the little front and north winds tomorrow, more may show up.

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  12. One of my readers who lives in Corpus mentioned today that they're swarming her feeders. Apparently the migration has begun.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.